Philadelphia, PA (Best E Casino) - Immediately after winning The Memorial last week, Kenny Perry re-affirmed his plan to skip the U.S. Open next week at Torrey Pines.
Perry has been trying to play his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and the event will be played at Valhalla, near the Kentucky native's hometown.
Is skipping the season's second major really the right thing to do if you want to play your way on the Ryder Cup team?
Well, it's a good call in the sense that the Buick Invitational also plays at Torrey Pines, and Perry has a poor track record at that event. In three appearances -- 1998, 1997 and 2008 -- Perry did not play the weekend each time.
In addition, Perry doesn't have the best record at the U.S. Open. He has played the championship 10 times and his best finish is a tie for third in 2003. Other than that, he has missed three cuts and finished no better than tied for 23rd in the six other times he played the weekend.
The 47-year-old Perry is playing this week in Memphis and will return to action the week after the Open at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. With many of the top players skipping those two events, Perry has a chance to win again and earn more points towards making the Ryder Cup team.
Even Jack Nicklaus is OK with Perry skipping the Open.
"My goal was never to make the Ryder Cup. It was to win the U.S. Open," said Nicklaus earlier this week. "But I understand. It's a big thing to Kenny. I don't think Kenny is trying to be No. 1 in the world. He's trying to make a Ryder Cup team in his home state. That's perfectly fine."
Perry might have Nicklaus' endorsement, but he's still gambling with his spot on the team.
Points awarded for the Ryder Cup team are doubled in major championships. With his win last week, Perry climbed to what looks like a comfortable No. 5 on the Ryder Cup points list. However, he is just 497.53 points ahead of Steve Stricker, who is ninth on the points list. Why is ninth significant? Because captain Paul Azinger is taking the top eight on the points list, to go along with four captain's picks.
If you look at the last U.S. Ryder Cup team, only one player missed the first two majors - as Perry will do this year - and made the team. That player was Brett Wetterich, who missed the first two majors, then missed the cut at the other two.
Wetterich only played in two matches in the 2006 Ryder Cup, and lost both.
Adding up all the information, I'd say it is a bad call for Perry to skip the U.S. Open. He owns an 0-2 Ryder Cup record, and could use all the big event challenges he can get.
IN AND OUT OF U.S. OPEN
Though his streak of 70 consecutive majors was snapped at The Masters, Davis Love III will start a new streak at the U.S. Open. Love got through the 36- hole qualifier on Monday, and will tee it up at Torrey Pines.
Others that made it through qualifiers and will play at the Open included Chad Campbell, Rocco Mediate, Carl Pettersson and Bart Bryant.
Some big names were not as lucky. Fred Couples, Chris DiMarco, Steve Elkington and Tom Lehman were all unable to qualify.
The USGA put the squeeze on the European players after nearly 20 withdrew from the qualifier. After that, the USGA only awarded seven spots instead of the originally scheduled 10.
ODDS AND ENDS
- My money says that John Atkinson does break 100 this weekend at Torrey Pines. Atkinson, an eight-handicapper, was the lucky winner of the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge that stemmed from Tiger Woods' comments at last year's Open that a 10-handicapper wouldn't break 100 at Oakmont.
- Michelle Wie finally had a good showing last weekend. Playing on the Ladies European Tour, she finished at 14-under par after closing with a five-under 67. Looks like her wrist is finally getting healthy.
